Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana ArchivesMain MenuIntroduction to the CollectionBishops of the Diocese of IndianaBishops of the Diocese of Northern IndianaParishes and MissionsConventionsOrdinations and PostulantsCamps and YouthEcumenical ServicesDiocesan Officers and GovernanceWomen's Auxiliary - Episcopal Church WomenMiscellaneousJohn David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252
Rev. Lewis Frank Cole
12020-09-26T12:18:13-07:00John David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252327164plain2020-09-26T12:44:29-07:00John David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252The Rev. Lewis Frank Cole was born in Windham, Maine, on 12 September 1844, the son of Algernon Lewis and Almira M. (Cobb) Cole. As he was about to enter college, the outbreak of the Civil War led him instead to enlist in the Second New York Mounted Rifles. He was wounded at Cold Harbor and suffered from his injuries for the rest of his life. He began his career as an Adventist missionary in Tennessee, Illinois, and Minnesota, and married his first wife, Lizzie H. Varney. He decided to become an Episcopalian and apparently read for orders under Bishop Whipple of Minnesota, who ordained him in 1878. In 1880 he was in Winona, Minnesota. After the death of his first wife, he married second Katherine Bishop. He spent time in the missionary field in Indiana under Bishop Knickerbacker and was stationed in Marion as rector of Gethsemane Church from 1890 to 1893, when he oversaw the construction of the church and furnished it with pews. In 1893, Bishop Knickerbacker named him diocesan archdeacon. Moving to Pittsburgh in 1896, he became its archdeacon and was rector of the Church of the Incarnation. In 1911, he went to Chicago as rector of another Church of the Incarnation. He later returned to Pittsburgh and died there of a stroke on 25 May 1920. He was buried in South Side Cemetery. Cole's son remained in Marion, Indiana, and a grandson was later senior warden of Gethsemane.